Best type of winter waterer

[Yard Farmer]

In my opinion, rubber bowls are the way to go.
If you get a hard freeze, you don't have to worry about them because they'll just stretch.

I've used them for 3 years now, and absolutely love them.

 

[KGQuail24]

I keep quail so our setup is relatively small, but I use a half-gallon bucket with nipple attachments. For the last 2 winters I've used a submersible fish tank heater, like this: https://www.amazon.com/FREESEA-Aqua...5204&sprefix=fish+tank+heater,aps,162&sr=8-16

It sticks near the bottom of the bucket with suction cups. I can set it to 72 so the water doesn't freeze but also never gets too hot. We live near Cleveland and it can stay below freezing for a while during the winters, but this works great. I cut a small hole at the very top of the bucket for the cord to go out so I can still put the lid on the water bucket. It's been a perfect solution.

 

[CedarLane]

Looking for some opinions on the best type of heater for the water in the winter. I am in New England and in the past used these big red, raised sort of hot plates. They took up a lot of room and stopped shutting of in the warmer days. The water was actually hot on occasion. I tossed them. I am going to get Premier Heated Poultry Waterer - 3 Gallon It is a water bucket with nipples. Very pricey but great reviews. I wish I could find something just 1 gallon. I don't like to crowd the coop in winter and I only have 10 hens and I always put 2 waters so all can have a chance. Do you think it is ok to only use nipple waterers? I usually have a regular water on a hot plate type heater. Most hot plates I am seeing are for metal waterers and I only use plastic and don't want something huge. Any suggestions?

This is what we use and we really like it. We've used it for several years. We've never had a new group of young pullets who didn't/couldn't learn to use it. It's best to start training them to use it before experiencing freezing (or extremely hot) temperatures. We usually offer it as the only source of water. When they see their "sisters" using it they peck and get water and use it as well. If they struggle at first, we will offer the other waterer briefly if we feel they aren't getting enough water but they soon catch on.

We don't want to go back to the other waterers because I hate cleaning dirty waterers!

I just looked at the Premier 1 website and noticed that the new lids have a hinged lid for easier filling! The only negative we've ever experienced with this waterer is that sometimes the lid will freeze in extreme temps and be difficult to remove.

I have these waterers and I love them. Thermal both winter and summer. Unplugged in the summer, of course, I drop a frozen water bottle inside to keep the water cool
https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/heated-poultry-waterer?criteria=Heated+water+bucket+chickens

I always think about adding a frozen water bottle....when I don't need one. I'll have to remember that for next year.

The waterer you got OP is the one I use. It's not as big as they advertise. Closer to 2 gal if even that. Works fine for me out in the run, though you will want to keep an eye on the nipples to make sure they don't freeze externally in very cold temps. But it's worked fine for me down to 12F.

In Michigan, we can experience temps below 0 and don't usually have a problem except when we have strong winds.

I have used, Heated Doggie bowl. Haven't found one to last consecutive Minnesota winters. Could work for others.

I don't use heat for water in winter. I have a dog bowl, stainless steel, that gets filled either once or twice daily depending on how cold it gets. In the morning, if the water has frozen overnight, I can easily crack the ice out and bring it inside to fill. This is crucial to me because my outside tap does not work below a certain temperature.

In my opinion, rubber bowls are the way to go.
If you get a hard freeze, you don't have to worry about them because they'll just stretch.

I've used them for 3 years now, and absolutely love them.

My biggest problem with the open waterers is the mess! The horizontal nipple waterers stay so much cleaner! We do use vertical nipple waterers when we raise broilers, but we don't raise broilers during freezing temperatures. We use chick waterers for the first week or two then they learn to use the nipples with no problem.

I would be concerned that the water would freeze in the nipples and
- stop working
- break them

I live in a mild climate (PNW) and I don’t even want to try them here

But I know a lot of people love them.

I prefer the metal founts on the auto heater. I remove the heater when it’s not super cold and store it inside the shop.

I’m sorry that you had trouble with yours - and hope someone else will have more ideas

We've never experienced any difficulties with our heated horizontal nipple waterer from Premier 1 in our Michigan winters.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I picked up the same Premier 1 heated waterer that everyone's talking about. Still trying to figure out what to raise it on. We have 6 inches of compressed mulch in the run, so the ground's not exactly flat.

I also grabbed the new Rentacoop 64oz heated waterer with cozy.

One of my girls cannot get the hang of the horizontal nipple, so I'll probably end up using a plastic cage cup and refilling 2-3x/day, along with a heated waterer.

 

[CedarLane]

I picked up the same Premier 1 heated waterer that everyone's talking about. Still trying to figure out what to raise it on. We have 6 inches of compressed mulch in the run, so the ground's not exactly flat.

I also grabbed the new Rentacoop 64oz heated waterer with cozy.

One of my girls cannot get the hang of the horizontal nipple, so I'll probably end up using a plastic cage cup and refilling 2-3x/day, along with a heated waterer.

My husband hung ours in the coop from a cord with a carabiner clip on the end. We unclip it, set it on the roost, open and then refill. I'm really interested in the new lid! No more unclipping the carabiner clip and removing the lid to fill!
Keep working with her...don't give up yet.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I picked up the same Premier 1 heated waterer that everyone's talking about. Still trying to figure out what to raise it on. We have 6 inches of compressed mulch in the run, so the ground's not exactly flat.

An overturned bucket is what they recommend. I try to rake and stomp the bedding flat in the waterer's spot so it sits level more or less. If some of the chickens are a bit shorter a concrete paver works as a booster step.

 

[CedarLane]

An overturned bucket is what they recommend. I try to rake and stomp the bedding flat in the waterer's spot so it sits level more or less. If some of the chickens are a bit shorter a concrete paver works as a booster step.View attachment 3674990

This is what I'd prefer, but DH prefers to hang it. Maybe he feels our buckets are too valuable to use them this way? We use our buckets when picking our garden veggies. Recently every single bucket we had was full of potatoes... Now we need more milk crates to store those in.

 

[rosemarythyme]

This is what I'd prefer, but DH prefers to hang it. Maybe he feels our buckets are too valuable to use them this way? We use our buckets when picking our garden veggies. Recently every single bucket we had was full of potatoes... Now we need more milk crates to store those in.

I simply bought an extra bucket. Garage is full of buckets. They sure are useful!

Since my waterer sits outside in an uncovered run there's not really anything good to hang it from anyhow.

 

[vwc]

I have used, Heated Doggie bowl. Haven't found one to last consecutive Minnesota winters. Could work for others.

I chucked my heated plate when it couldn't keep up. I bought this for my flock:
Farm Innovators 6 qt. Round Heated Plastic Pet Bowl, P-60B at Tractor Supply Co. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...azdJXbziIgfTuTWiS53wizObBqzm3TZhoCR-MQAvD_BwE

I love it so far! Keeps the water warm, not hot, even when we get below freezing temps!

 

[KTPGUNS]

I also found this on another thread:

I live in NH, and it absolutely freezes ALOT here. 1 of my wagerers is 5 gallon bucket, with a 125 watt heater and it has 5 horizontal nipples that have never once frozen. In years! I've had plenty of regular cups and automatic cups freeze a little, but none of my nipples. If they start icing up, they chickens fix that as soon as they hit it for water. If you have a bucket and heater, nipples are the only way to go!